Philosophy & Approach

School Philosophy

General Approach to Learning:
Co-op

Day in the Life

General School Mission

"The primary goals of the nursery school experience are to build confidence in social interaction, develop self-esteem and promote positive feelings toward learning. We believe it is important to establish an individual relationship with each child in order to create within each child a feeling of being "emotionally safe." When children are comfortable with all aspects of their surroundings, they will feel free to explore current interests, reach for new experiences and stretch even further into the interests of their peers and the teachings of adults.
2. We want our children to develop a sense of community, to experience the love and responsibility of a cooperative situation and to develop or enhance the ability to care for themselves and others. From this will come the ability to delay personal gratification, take turns and share.
3. We treat each child with kindness, acceptance and respect, and guide them in a positive, non-judgmental and non-shaming manner.
4. In our school, a child's feelings matter, and the tone and words we choose are an important aspect of how we communicate with each other.
5. We encourage children to feel successful and to have a sense of pride in what they can do.
6. We believe that each child deserves to be valued as an individual. Each child is a unique person, with his or her own pattern and timing for growth and development.
7. We believe in holistic and emergent curriculum. Our school offers experiences that acknowledge the whole child: playing, learning, sharing, feeling, exploring, discovering and creating. Our curriculum offers enough choice to meet individual needs and stimulate learning in all developmental areas-physical, social, emotional and cognitive. The majority of activities are open-ended and process oriented. Children can choose from activities that adults have set up or that they themselves have spontaneously initiated.
8. Our child development philosophy follows the theories of Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson.
9. Structure is provided through a limited number of close-ended activities, circle time and activity-room time and through scheduled routines (i.e., hand washing). We offer freedom with healthy limits, providing an opportunity for children to learn and develop at their own pace by participating in a safe and enriching, child-centered, environment.
10. The goal of discipline is to teach responsibility and foster a child's emerging inner controls by setting clear limits. We encourage appropriate behavior through behavior modeling, positive language and the teaching of conflict resolution skills.
Discipline techniques include:
Helping children discuss and resolve conflicts with developmentally appropriate language
Redirecting children to more developmentally appropriate activities
Offering choice of area based on behavior
Repeatedly setting clear limits for unsafe behavior
Under extreme circumstances, asking a child to temporarily leave an area where she/he is consistently having trouble
Assigning a "companion" to a child who exhibits extreme aggressive behavior that may physically or emotionally harm other children
Providing parent/teacher conferences to relay and teach intervention methods to parents for any problem that has not been resolved through previous efforts (may sometimes involve parent assisting with "shadowing" child in school)
The above techniques provide a basic guideline for handling conflicts as well as teaching problem-solving skills. They are fairly standard in any truly child-centered program and when used regularly with repetition and patience, will offer some success. As a parent, you are your child's first teacher. Here at Rose Scharlin, as a workday parent, you have an opportunity to expand upon the home environment.
A co-op provides a unique situation where your behavior toward the children and other adults can become a model for the way a young child perceives a social setting. All your individual personalities are welcome here, for they are a major part of a child's glimpse into this diverse world of ours. For three-and-a-half hours you are to many children what you are to your own child every waking hour. It is critical to the school's overriding goal of "community" that we ourselves endeavor to reach the standards that we ask of our children.

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Excerpted from the preschool's website

A Typical Day

"8:30-9:00 a.m. Workday parent setup time/morning huddle
9:00-9:45 a.m. Welcoming children and parents; children work on sensory projects, free play or curriculum projects
9:15 a.m. Morning welcome at Gathering Place
9:50 a.m. "Clean up soon" warning; Kitchen parent rings bell; Bike, Swings and Art Areas closed until after circle time
10:00 a.m. Kitchen parent rings bell for hand-washing and snack; Swings and Rover parents help direct children to hand-washing and snack; Bike and Art parents help children wash hands; one workday parent at each table to help serve snack
10:00-10:30 a.m. Snack time
10:20-10:30 a.m. "Circle soon" announced; Swings parent and Teacher/Director set up Gathering Place
10:30-10:45 a.m. Circle time at Gathering Place; alternative activity in the sandbox or on the block platform, supervised by Rover or available parent
10:45-11:45 a.m. Teacher-engaged projects, parent-led activities or free play; lawn games with Swings parent and teacher; all areas open except Bikes-Bike Area to be opened by teacher
11:30-11:45 a.m. Art parent organizes materials, soaks tools, puts away paints (other areas do not start cleanup yet)
11:45 a.m. Kitchen parent rings "Regroup soon" bell
11:50 a.m.-12:00 p.m. All parents and children regroup at Gathering Place; children select area to clean; Kitchen parent puts lunches out on green table
12:00-12:15 p.m. All parents and children regroup again for goodbye song and transition to washing hands for lunch; children assisted by Art and Bikes parents
12:15-12:30 p.m. Parents arrive for lunch; Bikes, Art Area, block platform, sandbox and Science Center are closed to children; Swings and climbing structure are open to children who have put their lunch away
12:30-1:00 p.m. Workday parents clean up; afternoon huddle
1:30 p.m. Cleanup finished; workday parents and teachers leave

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